Many Pressures Led to Cave-In

In Crandall Canyon, residents said the usual risks were compounded because the miners were directed to extract coal not only from pillars, but from far larger pedestals known as "barrier pillars." Barriers are the essentially large sections of coal that divide one work section from another. The company's plan, approved by the federal overseers, called for mining the section's south barrier, while "pillars should be robbed as completely as is safe to promote good caving."

"Everybody knows you don't mess with barriers," said one mineworker, who asked not to be named for fear of being blackballed by employers. "The coal belongs to the mountain. If you don't listen to the mountain, it will eat your lunch."

The mountain was talking to Crandall through "seismic events" -- the so-called "bumps" and "bounces" that miners say can snap necks against ceilings, or bruise feet and ankles: "Imagine standing on a steel sheet when a shotgun's fired against it," said one.

At least one violent shift preceded the Aug. 6 collapse, prompting mine managers to move the crews away from a barrier that was apparently dangerously weakened by mining. In the days after the catastrophic collapse, seismographic equipment recorded 23 more seismic events, including the lateral implosion that buried the rescue crew.

"There's no way of knowing when they're going to stop," said Richard E. Stickler, the current MSHA head, who directed the rescue operation. "There's so much that's unknown."

Yet retreat mining continues to grow, noted J. Davitt McAteer, MSHA director in the Clinton administration.

"If the price wasn't high, you wouldn't do it. If you had virgin coal, you wouldn't do it," he said. "We are re-mining, going in for a second take, third take, and when we're doing that we're running a risk."

Miner fatalities dropped from 155 in 1975 to 22 in 2005, a federal mine safety official said. But in 2006 the number climbed to 47.

"We may be turning back the clock on mine safety rather than going forward," McAteer said. "It's picked up steam in the last 24 to 36 months. At Huntington, the previous owner had mined it out and left that panel for safety reasons."

The current owners say they are not finished.

Outside the Crandall mine, Moore concluded Sunday's grim briefing by noting that mining might continue in the area, away from the section where the miners' bodies are likely entombed.

"There are other reserves, other locations," he said.

Geis reported from Los Angeles.